Week 9 Storytelling: Mr. Piddles Comes to Life

Mr. Piddles! from stuffedark

“Grammy!!!” Jonathon called from his room.

Grammy Ronni was babysitting Jonathon once again while her son was traveling for work. 

“Yes, dear?” Grammy Ronni stood up from the living room chair and walked to Jonathon’s room.

“Can you tell Mr. Piddles a bedtime story? He had a nightmare and can’t fall asleep.” Jonathon waved Mr. Piddles, a stuffed polar bear, at Grammy Ronni. Mr. Piddles had been a gift from Jonathon’s father after his last trip to Alaska. 

“Of course, Jonathon, Mr. Piddles deserves a good night's rest.” Grammy Ronni sat down on Jonathon’s bed, cleared her throat, and began to tell her story.

“Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in Alaska―”

“That’s where Mr. Piddles is from!” Jonathon never could contain his excitement during story time.

“Yes, Jonathon, now be quiet or Mr. Piddles won’t be able to hear the story,” Jonathon nodded his head and snuggled down into his bed.

“Now where was I... oh yes! A woman in Alaska was very lonely and struggled to find food. The men of the village would go hunting, but there was very little food to go around. One day the hunters brought back a large amount of fish and behind them came a small polar bear cub. They told the woman that the cub had followed them while they had been fishing and there was no mother bear to be found! 

“Well, I can take the cub,” the woman said, “but he will need a name. Perhaps Mr. Piddles will do!”
Jonathon laughed and whispered to Mr. Piddles, “That’s you!”

“The hunters gave the cub to the woman and she led him to her hut. She shared the few fish that she had with him and he curled up on her bed when they went to sleep. After several weeks Mr. Piddles became very large. All of the other villagers came to know the woman and her pet, Mr. Piddles. The woman even talked to Mr. Piddles as though he was a human!

“Mr. Piddles, today we are going shopping, so we have to put on your collar. Otherwise the villagers might think you are a stray polar bear.” She had woven him a pretty collar out of rope so that he would not be attacked. 

Mr. Piddles would nod and let out a small growl so that the woman would know he understood her. They walked through the village every morning and eventually the villagers grew to know Mr. Piddles and the woman. However, one day a stranger came and couldn’t believe his eyes! A domesticated polar bear had never been seen before in his village. He immediately ran home and told everyone in his village about the strange bear and woman he had seen. Soon word spread and one of the villagers wanted to kidnap Mr. Piddles, for he had become quite the expert fisher! 

So the man and one of his friends snuck back to Mr. Piddles’ village at night. They crept to the woman’s hut and placed a handmade leash on Mr. Piddles. Mr. Piddles was very confused because he did not know these men. He decided to go with them though, because he liked to go on adventures. 

After they left the village for a day, though, Mr. Piddles had had enough! The men had fed him fish and treated him well, but he missed the woman who had raised him. Speaking of which, the woman was very upset about the missing Mr. Piddles! She had never gone a day without Mr. Piddles since she had adopted him. 

After another day at the new village, Mr. Piddles began to roar and pull against the leash. This broke very easily because after all Mr. Piddles was a polar bear! He quickly ran back to the woman’s village and found her hut. He popped up onto his hind legs and gave her a big hug! Mr. Piddles had been very worried about the woman and was glad to be at home. The woman returned the hug and the village decided to celebrate Mr. Piddles’ return with a fish festival the next day. Mr. Piddles was very excited when he saw all the fish the next day at the festival. The whole village celebrated and so it came to be that every year on March 23^rd they celebrated Mr. Piddles. The end!”

Grammy Ronni turned to look at Jonathon and he had fallen asleep- this time snuggled up with his new best friend Mr. Piddles. 

Author’s Note:

This story was taken from the Eskimo story titled: The WomanWho Had a Bear as a Foster-Son collected by Knud Rasmussen. I really enjoyed reading the story, and thought it would perfectly transform into a bedtime story for Jonathon. The tale was about a woman who adopted a polar bear cub whose mother was killed by the village’s hunters. This seemed a little too gruesome to include in a bedtime story, as well as the ending in which the bear gets killed by another villages hunters.  To still include the other village I thought I would make it a kidnapping for the bear’s fishing expertise! Mr. Piddles is the name of my neighbors’ cat back in Mustang. I would babysit him when my neighbors would travel, so I have become quite fond of the little fellow. I thought it was about time that Jonathon had a stuffed animal to snuggle up with in bed and this was the perfect time to do it! And if dad is away traveling, he must be bringing back gifts for his son occasionally. It also reminds me a bit of Calvin and Hobbes so maybe there will be Jonathon and Mr. Piddles adventures!

Week 9 Reading Diary: Eskimo (cont.)

This week I am continuing to read the folktales from the Eskimo/Inuit area by Knud Rasmussen.

The opener for the reading for today was very powerful. It is about a two men who go hunting together and one always catches things while the other does not. Finally the man who is unable to catch anything kills the other. The dead man's mother revenges his death by dying and coming back as a bear ghost to kill the man. At the end Rasmussen comments that this was a traditional belief. They believed that if you killed a man without reason a monster would come and strike you and shred you to pieces.

The next story follows a similar plot line. I think that it is interesting that the ghosts of the people come back as animals of their amulets. This reminds me a bit of Brother Bear, where the people are given a wood carving of an animal that represents their spirit.

The next few stories are a bit gruesome for even my taste to read. They discuss a lot of men eating men, gory deaths, and force-feeding a man to death. The very long names continue, which it is interesting to see some of the common parts of names in each story.

The last stories all have very good morals at the end. Mostly about lying, killing, or helping others in times of need. I particularly liked the last story about the man who helped another man from a different village in his time in need. At the end the man in need returned the favor for him.

An Arctic Fox from esceimages

Week 9 Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

I have always been interested in Eskimo Folk Tales and chose to read those collected by Knud Rasmussen. One of my favorite movies growing up was Balto, and although I'm sure it is not very representative I have once again been reminded of those memories!

The first story is about the creation of earth and I like how the author talks about how man was created out of the earth and then he created dogs from the earth. It is an interesting twist from other versions I have heard growing up. It appears that animals are important in these stories.

Another story that I really liked from this reading was about a woman that fostered a bear. The bear became like a child to her and helped the men hunt for seals in the ocean. It was very sad to see the bear have to go away at the end. This story definitely pulls at the heartstrings!

The next story was about a boy whose family all died and left him to live with others. Eventually they visit him and he decides to pass as well because he is paralyzed. Another key thing I have noticed with these stories is the characters names are very complicated!

Another theme throughout many of these stories is wifeless men! I don't know if there are few women in the Eskimo lands, but finding a wife seems to be quite the task! There are also a lot of elements related to hunting throughout the last few stories in this reading. I really enjoyed reading all of these stories though, and am excited to choose one to rewrite.

The Polar Bear Son from Danforth Art Museum